


Coffee Shops and Daffodils

by eirenical (chibi1723)



Category: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Crushes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Post-Canon, Temporal Paradox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-07 02:23:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12223794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chibi1723/pseuds/eirenical
Summary: “Trini?”Trini froze, caught in the act of listening acutely to the conversation at the table behind hers.  It was long habit whenever she heard the words “Power Rangers,” even two years since she’d last been an active Ranger.  Her own secret identify might not rely on such diligence anymore, but one of her friends’ might.  She swallowed hard, forced herself to turn her attention back to her book.  Moments later, someone called her name again.





	Coffee Shops and Daffodils

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Griddlebone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Griddlebone/gifts).



“The Power Rangers aren’t real.”

“Of course they are. They’re on the news all the time.”

“Only in America. It’s like Florida man. It’s exaggerated for parody. Not. Real.”

“No, man, I’m telling you, the Power Rangers are real. My cousin met one once.”

“Sure. You should tell that cousin of yours to lay off the—”

“Trini?”

Trini froze, caught in the act of listening acutely to the conversation at the table behind hers. It was long habit whenever she heard the words “Power Rangers,” even two years since she’d last been an active Ranger. Her own secret identity might not rely on such diligence anymore, but one of her friends’ might. She swallowed hard, forced herself to turn her attention back to her book. Moments later, someone called her name again.

“Trini?”

Trini eased her book closed, slowly turned to scan the area around her. No one was looking directly at her, so who…?

“Strawberry crème frappuccino for Trini?”

Oh. Oh no. Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, Trini raised a hand to wave at the barista. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you at first.”

The barista simply smiled as she came out from behind the counter, drink in hand. Trini made as if to rise and meet her halfway, but the woman waved her back into her seat. Reaching Trini’s table, she put the drink down on it, then slid herself onto the bench opposite Trini. At Trini’s raised eyebrow, she smiled. “You’re in here every Monday around the same time, and every time I see you, you’re in yellow. It’s been months and I’ve reached the end of my impulse control. So, I have to ask—why?”

Trini choked on the sip she’d just taken of her drink. Coming so hard on the heels of overhearing that other conversation, the question seemed anything but innocuous… but it had to be. Trini knew this woman—as well as anyone knew the barista who served their drinks nine times out of ten, anyway—and people being possessed for evil purposes had a definite look about them that this woman just didn’t have. Still… “I just like it. It cheers me up.”

The woman leaned forwards, several braids sliding from the back of her shoulder to the front to pool on the table. Her lips were smiling, but something about that smile seemed off. It was a client service smile, the kind of smile that could hide any number of ills or woes. Trini found herself immediately wanting to do something to put joy back into it. Those dark eyes were made for happiness, not sadness. On a whim, she added, “And it reminds me of home.”

The woman’s smile lightened then, soft crinkles appearing at the corners of her eyes as she nodded. “It’s always been a favorite color of mine, too… for much the same reason.”

Though Trini thought to herself, _I very much doubt that,_ she simply raised her frappuccino in salute and waved when the barista rose to go take care of another customer. It wasn’t until later that night that she realized she’d forgotten to ask the woman’s name.

* * *

_“The Goodwill Games were disrupted today due to the presence of a large— what would you call it, Dana? A chipmunk?”_

_“I don’t know, Phil, but whatever it was it clearly hadn’t paid its registration to be there.”_

_“It’s a good thing the Power Rangers showed up when they—”_

“Hey! I was watching that!”

“Oh, give up, already. The Power Rangers aren’t real. It’s all a publicity stunt, OK? Now will you get that through your thick skull, and let me do my work in peace?”

The conversation degenerated into annoyed grumbles then and Trini tuned them out in favor of her reading for the next day’s class. By the time she finished the first chapter, her favorite barista was at the table across from hers, picking up some left behind straw wrappers and wiping down the table. She looked up and smiled. “So… Wednesdays, too, now? And still all in yellow?”

Trini smiled, shrugged. Normally, this coffee shop was a once a week indulgence, something to relax and steel her for the rigors of the coming week. It had been an impulse to come down here to study today, as well. Still, she wasn’t exactly disappointed to find her favorite barista here… and she wasn’t sure what that meant that it was so. Casting about for a safe topic of conversation, Trini’s eyes caught on the woman’s socks—the one part of her outfit that wasn’t uniform standard. Smiling, she said, “It looks like I’m not the only one.”

The woman glanced down, following Trini’s gaze. And again, there was that sad smile. “Like you… a reminder of home. I hope you don’t mind?”

Trini shook her head. “Not in the least.”

A deep silence fell between them, then, one that Trini didn’t know quite how to break. Just as it was starting to get uncomfortable, the barista looked up again to flash her a more genuine smile than any Trini had seen her wear all month. “It seems an unfair advantage that I know your name and you don’t know mine.” Holding out a hand, she said, “It’s Aisha.”

Trini reached out and took Aisha’s hand in a firm grip. And if she had issues figuring out how to let go afterwards… well. Aisha didn’t need to know. “Pleasure to make your official acquaintance, Aisha. I’m Trini.”

“Well, Trini, you’re welcome in my humble drinking establishment any day of the week, in whatever color you choose.”

Trini just smiled and went back to her book.

* * *

Trini really did do her best not to make a habit of it, but before long she was finding herself at the coffee shop on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays now, too. She was honest enough with herself to admit that if she came in on a day when Aisha wasn’t there, she was just a bit disappointed. She was careful, though, didn’t want to read too much into it. It was Aisha’s job to be nice to customers. It was her job to make a person feel welcome in the shop. It was arguably her job to talk to the customers, too, if it was a slow day. So, Trini did her best to not be that customer. If they were to step outside the boundaries of the barista-customer relationship they had, it would have to be Aisha to establish it.

Still, it was hard not to read too much into it when Trini’s usual table started sporting daffodils on the days she came in. Aisha never said anything about it, never explained, never even acknowledged it, so Trini couldn’t say for certain that she was responsible… but Trini saw the look on Aisha’s face the one day that she had taken one of those flowers on a whim and tucked it into her hair as she sat there with her book and her tea. It was the first truly joyful smile, free of any shadows, that Trini had ever seen her wear.

She remembered the day well. It was the day before she got the news about Billy, that he was ill—very ill, aged before his time—and they’d sent him to Aquitar in a last ditch effort to heal him. And it wasn’t until Jason called to tell her about it that she’d realized she hadn’t spoken to either he or Billy or any of the others in months—not since Jason went back to Angel Grove to take up the Gold Ranger powers. It was a shock in more ways than one, and once she’d hung up the phone, she’d found that her hands were shaking. She wanted nothing more than to dig out her communicator from where it was tucked into a false panel in the drawer of her desk and teleport to Angel Grove to demand to be back into the loop for real, to go to Aquitar— _anything_ so she wouldn’t have to feel this helpless worry, this uselessness.

But that was not only wholly impractical, it was selfish, too. So, instead, Trini walked. She walked until her feet hurt. She walked until the sun began to set on the horizon. She walked until she ached. And, in the end, she wasn’t surprised in the least by where she ended up.

The coffee shop.

Only it was long past her usual hour to be there. In fact, even as she watched, a lithe figure slipped out the front door, apron tucked under her arm as she turned to lock it behind her. Aisha.

Trini froze then, feeling another surge of selfish guilt. She had no right. Aisha was not her friend, was certainly not anything else, either. She was a barista with a charming smile and a favorite color which matched Trini’s Ranger color. That was all. And she was even now turning around and catching sight of Trini in the shadows of the arch near the courtyard fountain. For just a moment she had tensed, arms drawing up into a stance Trini knew all too well, before relaxing when she recognized who was standing there. She rushed over. “Trini! You—” she paused, frowning. “You look terrible. What happened?”

“I—” Trini stopped, tried to start again, failed again. It wasn’t until the fourth attempt that she was able to get out a story that would make any kind of sense to a non-Ranger. Still, she gave Aisha as much of the truth as she could, even if it wasn’t enough to matter. She wove a story about estranged friends, responsibilities put on hold, and a disease that was robbing her friend of his very youth, a disease that only the Rangers of another planet might be able to cure. At Aisha’s stunned look, Trini nodded. “That’s right. It’s true. All of it. The Power Rangers are real and my friend has worked with them before. The alien Rangers are the only chance he has, and even so, they may not be able to reverse the process before it… before it...” She couldn’t say it. That would make it far too real. And all she could think was: _I should have been there._

Minutes later, that look of shock still hadn’t left Aisha’s face. Trini reached out and took her hand, gently chafed a little warmth into it. When her features had lost some of that ashen look, Aisha clutched Trini’s hands tightly in hers and said the absolute last thing that Trini expected her to say. “The regenerator. It had to be.” Aisha’s eyes locked on hers, a surprising amount of strength and certainty in their depths. “If anyone can help Billy, it’s Cestro and the others. He’ll be OK, Trini. He will.”

Later it would occur to Trini that she should have pulled her hands back, jumped away, made ready for a fight. Later. For now, all she could do was stare… and stammer. “How… How do you…? Aisha?”

Aisha lifted a finger to touch the daffodil she’d tucked into her own hair that day, her lips pursed together as she now had a turn at failing to find anything to say. Eventually she motioned Trini to sit on the fountain with her. And as unlikely a tale as Trini had told her, the tale Aisha had to tell was more unbelievable still. According to Aisha, Trini had transferred her powers to her, not to Tanya. Aisha had gone on to be the Yellow Ranger and had served until the Power Coins were destroyed, until Master Vile had turned all of the Rangers into children. Billy, alone, had returned to his proper age—the reason he was in such dire straits now—and the others had eventually gone on quests to find the crystals that would fuel their new powers. Aisha had given her crystal to Tanya and sent her back in her place, thus altering the shape of history.

Trini stared at her for long moments when she was done. Finally, she managed to get out, “You created a paradox.” When Aisha nodded, Trini continued, growing more confident with every word. “You erased yourself from Angel Grove’s recent history, erased your entire tenure as a Ranger. But without you having been a Ranger, you never could have gone on the Zeo Quest that erased your time as a Ranger to begin with.” Eyes wide as she leaned back on her hands, Trini shook her head. “How has the Earth not imploded by now?”

Aisha shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Zordon and the others—anyone caught outside of time when we went on the Zeo Quests—we’ve been in contact since and they remember me, but everyone else...” She shook her head. “Nothing.”

Trini leaned forward, took Aisha’s hand again. “Aisha, why didn’t you tell me? We were friends once, weren’t we? I never would have entrusted you with my powers if that were untrue. Surely you had to know you could trust me?”

Plucking at the fabric of her jeans with her free hand, Aisha let out a soft laugh. “You have to admit, even for us, this is a little out there. I had no idea how you would react. So, I thought I’d better feel out the territory a little before I committed to telling you something I couldn’t take back.”

At those words, Trini felt her face begin to heat. “Oh. Is that… is that what you were doing?”

Aisha looked up from her nervous plucking, an unreadable expression on her face. “Why? What did _you_ think I was doing?”

Trini could feel it the second that the heat in her cheeks turned into a raging blush. Letting go of Aisha’s hand, Trini buried her face in both of hers, muffling the answer as she responded. “I knew I shouldn’t read too much into it!”

“Read too much into _what_?”

The next thing Trini knew, hands were pulling at hers, then gently holding them as Aisha looked up into her face, one eyebrow raised. Trini let out a soft groan, then strapped a bit of steel to her spine and raised her gaze to meet Aisha’s. “I thought you were flirting.”

And there was that joy-filled smile once more. Aisha’s grip tightened on Trini’s hands and the next thing she knew, one was being lifted. As Trini’s mouth dropped open in a small “O,” Aisha dropped a soft, barely there butterfly of a kiss onto the back of her hand and said, “Well, I was doing that, too.” As Trini’s mouth snapped shut, Aisha let out a delighted laugh. “Seriously, Trini. You should look up what daffodils mean in the language of flowers some time.”

“Maybe I’ll have to do just that.” Finally feeling that peculiar tension that had had hold of her all day release its hold, Trini took in a deep breath. She had already had faith in Aisha, but knowing that Aisha had once been a Yellow Ranger, just like herself, only increased that feeling of trust. And Aisha trusted Cestro and the Aquitian Rangers. So, if Aisha thought they could help Billy, then Trini would take that on faith. Billy would be fine. Trini would be fine.

Trini would be better than fine.

“Aisha, since every cat we have is now well and truly out of the bag, how would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?”

Aisha’s answer was a tight hug… and a delightfully thorough kiss. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Later that night, as Trini sat at her computer researching the language of flowers, it made her heart beat just a little faster to find out what those daffodils really meant. So, when she showed up at Aisha’s door the next day, she did the only thing she could—she brought her a bouquet full of them, with one single full-bloom red rose in the center. After all, what else needed to be said?

**Author's Note:**

>  ** _9/30/17:_** The meaning of flowers, according to [thelanguageofflowers.com](http://thelanguageofflowers.com/):  
>  _Daffodils:_ Regard; Unrequited Love; You're the Only One; The Sun is Always Shining When I'm with You  
>  _Red Rose:_ Love, Respect  
>  _Single Full Bloom Rose:_ I Love You; I Still Love You
> 
> October 28, 2017: And now that works are revealed... you can find me on tumblr @ [eirenical](http://eirenical.tumblr.com), so feel free to come say hello! And here is the little [photoset/tumblr post](http://eirenical.tumblr.com/post/166897613337/coffee-shops-and-daffodils-2669-words-read-on) I made to go along with the fic. ^_^


End file.
